Ethics : Value Theory, Normative Ethics, And Meta Ethics

Ethics play an integral and necessary part in our lives. An individual’s course of action is dictated by which ethical model they adhere to. Ethics answers the question, "What do I do?" It is the study of right and wrong. “At a more fundamental level, it is the method by which we categorize our values and pursue them. Do we pursue our own happiness, or do we sacrifice ourselves to a greater cause? Is that foundation of ethics based on the Bible, or on the very nature of man himself, or neither?” (Hursthouse, 2012)

In today’s world ethics are met with hesitation and an uncertain sense of understanding. There are so many definitions of what ethics are, one might define it as feelings of right and wrong while others may categorize it as certain actions and activities that are socially acceptable. Unfortunately, ethics are not something that everyone understands, because they stem from ones morals and in today’s world morals are not something that are always understood or accepted.

There are many meta-ethics concepts in philosophy that help deal with common objection and disparagement between certain situations and topics. The first meta-ethics concept is Ethical Objectivism. Ethical objectivism is a view where an action is deemed right or wrong without the opinion and thoughts of an individual. The three main branches of ethical objectivism that will be discussed in the following passages are moral universalism, moral realism and moral absolutism. The next meta-ethics concept is ethical subjectivism. Subjectivism states that a claim is dependent on a persons opinions and beliefs. Lastly, the third and final meta-ethics concept is ethical relativism. Relativism involves culture. The following will reveal objectivism, subjectivism and relativism and the ramifications of history, strength and weaknesses of these three meta-ethics concepts.

The Social Work profession is founded in a set of values and principles with one mission in mind, to enhance the wellbeing of all individuals and empowering those who are vulnerable by providing adequate services and skills. Social Workers are guided in their practice by utilizing resources like the NASW Code of Ethics, CSWE, and HIPAA to ensure that they are in compliance with the Social Work professional standards in making ethical decisions. Educational training is given to all professionals within the field to enhance their knowledge on ethics- related management, handling complex situations, ethical misconduct and ethical standards.

First, it is important to define ethics and how its components play an extensive role in our society. The term ethics is defined as “Moral principles that govern a person 's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.” (Oxford); ethical decisions are the ones that per se determine whether or not murder is wrong. Likewise, ethics consists of different ramifications and perspectives from many philosophers. Moreover,

As time goes by, ethical and moral issues have been brought up for long periods of time and these issues are recently becoming the rising problem to be discussed in society, business area and daily life. Most of people generally understand that the general meaning of ethics equals to the meaning of moral. However, moral is basically a matter of individual conscience without forcibleness, but ethics are related to social system with forcibleness. The academic definition of ethics is described as a stem of philosophy which raises moral questions and is demonstrated what is the main characteristic of morality and the way in which moral standards are decided (Gray & Webb, 2010).

Virtue ethics is a normative theory whose foundations were laid by Aristotle. This theory approaches normative ethics in substantially different ways than consequentialist and deontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I will address it separately. This is the fundamental difference between acting ethically within utilitarianism, egoism, and Kantianism. And being ethical within virtue ethics. The other theories seek to define the ethics of actions while virtue ethics does not judge actions in any way. The other theories deal with how we should act, while virtue ethics determines how we should be.

I. Provide answers for five (5) of the following (6 points each, total of 30 points):

Luke is in charge of ABC Company’s land development project in building an adult entertainment store on the land they recently purchased. Unfortunately, his brother, Owen, happens to live in the same area. Luke remembers Owen once told him he is thinking about selling his house, since he recently received a decent offer from a real estate firm. However, he is debating whether he should sell it or waits for the real estate to rise. Luke realizes with the appearance of adult entertainment in the near future, the values of Owen’s house and other houses in neighborhood are likely to drop significantly.

The life of prisoners some may never know. There are those who care not to know what goes on behind that wired fence. We find that some people that are convicted of crimes that they did not commit. Some people would rather turn their heads to what actually happens in a prison institution, because they feel it is no concern of theirs. Innocent women and men face a disaster in life when they find their selves incarcerated in such facility as these. The treatment in prison facilities toward prisoners with health issues or those who develop health concerns that

Different ethical theories would view this issue in various ways. Virtue ethics believes in placing a heavy focus on moral character, while focusing less on the action itself. In this situation a virtue ethicist would evaluate if ending or continuing Samantha's treatment would impact her moral character. The beliefs of strong moral character carried by a virtue ethicist would encourage Samantha to further her parents wishes of continuing treatment. A virtue ethicist respect for human life causes them to believe that Samantha should continue treatment because of the courage and strength it shows. However some virtue ethicist might argue that because of the value for human life, Samantha should be allowed to discontinue treatment to end the immense suffering she is in. A virtue ethicist would considered all of the details of the patients suffering before making a

In the consideration of MAID from a virtue ethics standpoint, the concern is whether a nurse assisting in the end of life process of a patient is morally and thereby ethically right. As a result of the core values of nursing focusing on saving lives and returning individuals to a state of good health, assisted dying promotes a conflicting value. Through my research I have found three consistent themes, moral intent, autonomy, and healing. I propose these be used as guidelines to determine the ethical nature of assisted dying, on a case-by-case basis. If one of the proposed guidelines is not met, the act of assisted dying is to be considered unethical. Medically assisted dying with the help of a nurse is right as long

Ethics, also know as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live. Ethics involves making moral judgements about what is right and wrong, good or bad. Right and wrong are qualities or moral judgements we assign in action and conduct. Ethics proves us with a way to make more choices when we are uncertain about what do in a situation involving moral issues.

The long debated question of the importance of men and women and their roles has raged on for years. Should men and women be treated equally, that truly is the question that seems to have more answers than resolution. Applying the question to Deontology and the work of Immanuel Kant, the answer would be all people regardless of gender should be treated equally. However, these theories do not take into account the actions of the male or female in question. The question still remains, should men and women be treated equally or should it be based on the situation, all accounts will be taken into further consideration.

Summary of Virtue Ethics. For a non-consequential theory, I will use Virtue Ethics. This theory is developed by philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. All of them have a different perspective of the theory, but they have the same central principle of Virtue Ethics, which is a personal character to lead to happiness and fulfillment in one's life.